Thanksgiving isn’t just a day, it’s a way we can live our lives every day! As Dr Kevin Snyder says, “There is always, always something to be thankful for. Thanksgiving truly is a time of togetherness and gratitude, so how can we live out this attitude of thankfulness in our daily lives? As easy as it would seem to live life with a heart of thanksgiving, it’s much harder than you think. It takes work and being intentional about focusing on the good, what we have, and not all the bad that happens, or what we don’t have. To help you out, we’ve discovered 4 ideas you can apply to keep your mindset one of thanksgiving on a daily basis and not just on the 4th Thursday of November.
Start each day with gratitude…Before your feet hit the floor, make a habit to be grateful that you woke up and how blessed you are to see another day. While you’re brushing your teeth, think about everything you can focus on during your day that you are happy about. Remind yourself to redirect your thoughts back to these things if you start to complain or get distracted on what you’re not so happy about. A great idea is to create a “gratitude jar” for accountability. When you catch yourself moaning or complaining about a negative thing happening, make yourself write down at least one thing you are grateful for and put it in the jar. You can even go back and read those notes to help you out when it feels like nothing is going your way. Dress yourself in gratitude every day and suddenly what you have is more than enough.
Be present in the moment…If you have ever heard of mindfulness, it is the practice of being present in the moment. It is said that depression lives in the past, anxiety, and stress live in the future, but peace of mind and calmness live in the present. Start being intentional about where your mind wanders to. You can get so caught up on what you have done or what you’re going to do, that you lose out on the awesomeness of what’s right now, in this moment. Self-awareness and practicing being fulfilled and focused on the here and now will keep your mind from stealing your time. Learn to savor and enjoy every second of your precious life.
Pick one person each day…Think of one person you can call, email, write a note to, or simply send a text message to say hi. It can be a family member, friend, co-worker, or someone who simply made an impression on you at some point. Make it a daily exercise to let people close to you, or those who have made a positive impact on you, know they matter and are appreciated. This practice not only maximizes your own well-being, but it also makes the recipient of your kindness feel good too. We call that a win-win situation.
Finish the day with thankfulness…Starting now, decide that you will end each day with a thankful heart. You can use your “My Success Planner & Journal” or any kind of gratitude journal to write down at least 3 things that you are thankful for at the end of each day. It has been proven that spending time each day focusing on the things you’re thankful for have long-lasting and wide-spread impact on all areas of your life. Each day you wake up is a gift, something you unwrap, filled with discovery and treasures. Taking just 10 minutes every evening to list out a few of these blessings and expressing your thankfulness, invites happiness, peace, and satisfaction into your heart and your life.
Living out thanksgiving daily requires you to begin each day with gratitude and end each day with a thankful heart. Like any behavior, a mindset of thanksgiving, takes practice and intentionality, but the joy, togetherness, and peace of mind it brings, is worth the effort!
Written by:
Kim Martin, Founder of I’ve Decided, INC